Shrubs prostrate, 0.1-0.5 m; young twigs gray-tomentose. Leaf blades orbiculate-elliptic, 1-2.2 × 1-1.5 cm. Fruits 4-5 mm diam. 2n = 52.

Flowering early-late spring. Maritime chaparral, coastal prairie on serpentine soils; of conservation concern; 0-100 m; Calif.

Subspecies ravenii occurs near the coast in San Francisco County. The relationship of this taxon is problematic; only one living individual is known from the wild. It is in the Center for Plant Conservation´s National Collection of Endangered Plants as Arctostaphylos hookeri subsp. ravenii.